Kenya: University students threaten to hold demos over fees

University students have threatened to take to the streets over plan to increase tuition fees.

Speaking to journalists outside the Anniversary Towers, in Nairobi on Monday, student leaders from various universities declared that on Monday next week, they would hold countrywide demonstrations to protest the raising of fees from Sh16,000 to Sh48,000.

The proposal to increase fees was arrived at at a meeting by vice-chancellors from public universities, who claimed that expenses had gone up and more money was needed to effectively run the colleges.

The students, led by University of Nairobi’s Makori Orina, also protested last week’s directive by Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed to have Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) loan defaulters arrested and prosecuted.

She said that this would enable Helb recover Sh7.2 billion owed by loan defaulters.

“We will put pressure on CS Mohamed until she steps down. She has been making bad decisions,” Mr Orina said.

The students, who insisted on addressing the press in the middle of the road, caused a traffic snarl up on Nairobi’s University Way.

“The streets will be impassable on Monday if she (Ms Amina Mohamed) does not listen to us,” Eric Ochola, a student from the South Eastern Kenya University said.

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